Posted: March 28 2009 at 19:00 | IP Logged

hey there!

be patient--this particular forum is kinda quite. not many of us thompson guys around.

i viewed your post yesterday but didn't have time to reply.

first off: welcome aboard, glad to have ya!

second: is it a daytona? or what model?

what engines and drives. alphas i'm sure....

NADA  dotcom has a marine/boat guide online that you can look up values of these boats. with that being said, you may be better off just looking at what they are selling for. try boattrader, here at boatus, and where ever else you may be able to find one. thompsons are kinda far and few between. what part of the country are you in? kinda makes a differance too.

i think the year you are looking at were good--later on in the 90's just before they became defunct they had some hull cracking problems ( a couple) (certain models)(but still bad news!) 

thompson cut corners (like almost all boat companies) to keep costs down. most of these cost cutting measures are easily replaced or cured. for instance, i have replaced all the cheap plastic thru-hull fittings with stainless...you can check some of my posts --lots of pics of some of the projects we've been doing.

i love ours--the price was right, and i love the way it comes up out of the water and planes so easily-most heavy cruiser style boats we've tried seem to really "dog" .

it has a nice wide beam and a great floor layout below (roomy)

nice thick solid fiberglass hull. I've had water intrussion problems up on the fore deck but that is a fairly common problem with many boats. not exclusive to thompson.

soooo what are they asking for it? will he take you out in it? the one thing that is really hard to cure is water intrussion into the transom...make sure that is sound and dry. stringers also. gotta tell ya it's worth paying a surveyor a few hundred to make sure of a few things like that for you (especially being new to boating)

anyway--there's a few things to chew on--

Posted: March 28 2009 at 19:15 | IP Logged

sometime very hard to tell if you have a problem--they make a moisture meter tool thay is very helpful--most surveyors have one.

the old method was to drill some holes......(probably why it's the "old" method)

8k doesn't sound too bad of a price.

my deck water problem was cured with rot doctor.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 19:17 | IP Logged

also--caroline, the moderator of the regular part of this boatus forum can show you where to go to read about the problems they had.

i had a link---give me a bit--i'll see if i can find it again...

Posted: March 28 2009 at 19:40 | IP Logged

here's that link:

the following is the place to read negatives! some of them are really stupid ie: problems on 5+ year old boats....not even original owners...

but if these scare ya--go look at Searay!

http://my.boatus.com/consumer/database.aspx

Posted: March 28 2009 at 21:22 | IP Logged

definitely take a surveyor--that's all i'm gonna say brutha.

dont want to rain on your parade but i saw at least a few red flags in the slide show.

what are you going to do with the chris?

Posted: March 28 2009 at 21:53 | IP Logged

well.....they ARE just pics and my eyes are getting real crappy but here it goes...

the drives caught my eye first. they look pretty rough.(look like alphas) i'm also thinking it may be under powered. ya don't see those straight sixes too often. i saw lots of water stains leaking to the interior...that water always goes where it shouldn't be.

saw water stains down in the bilge area(needs investigation) lots of loose wiring...was that a hole in the side of the hull???

oh, and anytime you have things screwed into the transom (like the swim platform) that's how water gets into the transom.

it just doesn't look like the owner has been giving it the TLC that boats constantly require. hell--even if i dont have time to work on mine i'll go down and sit around and have a couple beers with her!

Posted: March 28 2009 at 22:28 | IP Logged

is it being used in salt or fresh water?....looks like fresh water by the pics.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:01 | IP Logged

you think he'll seatrial it for you? are you in a warm weather place?

as long as the hull is sound, the rest of it can be tidy'd up.

doing a transom is major surgery though.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:15 | IP Logged

consider that another HUGE red flag. be affraid! run/don't walk.

ever gone on the boatered  dotcom forum.

dont take it from me--go ask around some more.

i would never buy a boat w/o a seatrial. ever. no way. i'd never try to sell one w/o offering a seatrial.

i fall in love with other boats pretty easy so i know what you're going through!

keep looking. this is a buyers market right now....you can do better.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:19 | IP Logged

ask around on this forum:

http://my.boatus.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=106

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:22 | IP Logged

that's how lots of others do it---surveyor first--if he gives it an ok bill of health then onto a seatrial.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:47 | IP Logged

exactly!

hey, how come you get "too busy" once you retire?

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:54 | IP Logged

do yourself a favor: take a weekend and go look at a BUNCH of boats. you'll get some great "schoolin'".

hit a boat show or two -there's a few spring time shows going around right now.

check out David Pascoe's site--good place to learn what to look for when shopping. he is a surveyor with a website. lots of pics and tutorials. some people argue that some of his info is incorrect or old but it's still a good starting point.

i'll see if i can find you a link

Posted: March 28 2009 at 23:56 | IP Logged

here ya go

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/

Posted: March 29 2009 at 19:01 | IP Logged

well hey, there's nothing a little money and time can't cure! if you like the boat(there IS something about these thompsons!?) and if you're getting a good deal, and the hull is sound, then grab it!

in my opinion, thompson did a crappy job of wiring from the start(sloppy)--i've re-done lots on ours. my boats original owner was in Ct. somewhere. i bought it from the second owner. who moved it down here to Fla. he only had it for a few months.

SO, what did you offer?? did he accept??

Posted: March 29 2009 at 19:04 | IP Logged

did you check this out?

http://www.boatus.com/boatgroups/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1 428&PN=1

Posted: March 29 2009 at 20:44 | IP Logged

ya i just found that...also found this thread on the 470's

http://www.marine-engines.net/topics/001156.html?motors